What Is a Marriage License Anyway???

Last night, I finally got home from working in Colorado for a week. Upon my return, I half expected my wonderful husband to meet me at the airport with flowers and a big hug. When I walked out of the terminal and didn't see him there waiting, I proceeded downstairs to the baggage claim, carried my terribly heavy suitcase to my car (actually I wheeled it, but for purposes of making people feel sorry for me, let's say I carried it), and headed home.

On the way, I thought to myself "Well, maybe he didn't come to the airport because he was so busy planning something sweet for me when I get home." Nope. Nothing. Nada. He was sitting on his stupid "gaming chair" playing on his XBOX 360 with Chad. He didn't even come to the car to help me carry my bag, after I called him and said "I am about to pull up."

A little disappointed, I brushed my teeth, washed my face, and crawled into bed. That's when he decided to be interested in having his wife home. So me, who has not been sleeping well for the past six days JUST wanted to go to bed. But no, Stephen starts kissing on me... And then up come the dogs crawling all over us. So Stephen kicked them off and pulled me close, saying he just wanted to cuddle. Slowly drifting off, and trying to get him to stop trying to take advantage of me, Stephen finally says "I have a piece of paper around here somewhere that says you have to let me take advantage of you whenever I want."

So herein lies the question... What is a marriage license anyway?

Absence makes the heart grow fonder...

Now THAT'S a load of crap! Absence just sucks.

Well, I am on the road once more. This time, Colorado... again. I am starting to realize how hard it gets to be away from home. I cried today when I left Stephen to head to the OKC airport. I can't imagine how people who are away even more than me have a family, husband, or animals. I love getting to help people, meeting new people, and saving OmegaCare, one contract at a time... But I don't love sleeping in the hotels alone, eating dinner by myself, and not being able to lean on Stephen's shoulder in the airplane. Maybe one day, when our company is much bigger, I will just be able to manage the people who make all the flights and spend so much time away from home.

This weekend was lots of fun. It was the first "girls weekend" since Kari and Matt got married. The two of them stayed at our house. We went to the COOP Ale Works 1 year anniversary party. Stephen had a little too much to drink (keep in mind, we just don't really drink often, so one beer does him in)... Saturday afternoon was girl time. We went to Erica and Chase's house and drank a bottle of wine, chit chatted, and just caught up. Those girls are my best friends. I am so glad that I decided Jessi wasn't all that bad.... because if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have such amazing friends.

Well, the plane is about to leave. I hope the ride is smooth. I also hope I will be home within the next couple of days. Another week in Colorado sounds NO fun!

Happy (1st) Holidays!

I have realized I am really bad at writing frequently.

To catch up, November was a busy month. I spent a lot of time working in Colorado. I realized how much I miss Stephen when I am away. It is hard working away from home so much as newlyweds. I think it's because newlyweds are supposed to be all lovey-dovey and we can't be that way since we aren't together much. For my birthday, we went to The Melting Pot in Bricktown. We also went shopping and Stephen got me some new jeans. Then, our first Thanksgiving as a married couple. December was another month full of Colorado working. I spent one weekend with Hudson and Barbara in Colorado Springs. We got our wedding photos back. The rest of the month was full of Christmas shopping and family time at the in-laws.

Speaking of holidays, I have realized one of the biggest hurdles we have had thus far is deciding how to do the holidays. There is so much pressure in being married, because where we used to just go to our respective parents' houses, he to his and me to mine, now we are married... and there are expectations. To add to the mix, Chris came to Thanksgiving in Poteau for the first time in 7 years. So that was VERY special! Family has always been important to me and him both, so it was difficult coming up with a plan that worked. But, we spent the day before and Thanksgiving morning with my family, Thanksgiving evening and the rest of the weekend in Poteau. Then Christmas, we spent the day before Christmas Eve and Christmas Eve with my family, with the expectation of going to Poteau on Christmas Eve morning. We did, however, get stuck in the 2009 Oklahoma Blizzard. So after driving from Duncan to Marlow, we turned around back to Duncan and stayed there until Christmas day. Then it was back to OKC, where we spent the rest of the weekend. For New Years, we spent the whole time in Poteau, had Christmas dinner and celebrated Christmas with Daril & Janet.

We had a wonderful (and busy) holiday season, and we were able to fit everything in. Now it's time for some rest and relaxation before more work trips to Colorado!

LAUNDRY LAUNDRY LAUNDRY!

I don't know what it is about being married that produces so much laundry, but I feel like my ability to do laundry is rapidly declining as the piles are continuing to grow. Married life is great so far. Yesterday was one whole month. (I realized today how terrible I am about keeping this online journal updated.) Anyways- yesterday was one whole month. I took Stephen a cookie cake to his office. It had two little fish on it and said "Of all the fish in the sea, I'm glad you married me!" It was really cute. His friends at work love it when I bring cookie cakes to their office. Stephen's job is very high stress and he doesn't get a lot of praise for his work, so I like to "reward" he and his friends sometimes with baked surprises. It's just a little something to look forward to.

Other than laundry, we haven't been up to much. Stephen went hunting this weekend and shot a deer, but they couldn't find the body... just a lot of blood. That was disappointing to him (and to me too cause I am craving some jerky!)

Well, back to cleaning house.

Twenty Days of Marital Bliss

So we have been married now a whole 20 days. And we haven't even tried to strangle each other. The newness of living together hasn't worn off yet... which means his dirty underwear on the bathroom floor isn't bothering me... YET.

My Aunt Laura (my dad's sister) told me yesterday that at our wedding ceremony, she felt like God was standing up there with us. That she could just feel His blessings pouring down on us. She said it was the most spiritual ceremony she has ever attended. That was such a wonderful compliment... and EXACTLY what we were hoping people would feel on our wedding day. We wanted people to feel God's love and our love for each other illuminating from the inside of the church out.

With that said, I want to inform our future children (who I am actually writing this little online diary for) that their dad is a wonderful man. He even has been holding up his end of the "in sickness and in health" promise. I have come down with a cough and been hacking my lungs up for two days now. Last night, Stephen went to Walgreens at 10:00 at night to get me some cough medicine. He even called my dad to find out what he needed to get me. Dad called me in some medicine and Stephen went to pick it up. They are both such good men! I hope if I have little girls, they get a man as good as the two men in my life. And if I have little boys, they better treat their women just like my men treat me... and they won't have a problem finding a girl who loves them as much as I love Stephen and my daddy.

Time to get ready for work.

The Kiss

Here is the kiss that the blog is named after!!! More to come!

Being a Mrs.

So I missed a few posting days... So let me catch up to date.

Wednesday before the wedding:

I was supposed to pick Noah Cooley up at the airport tonight, but he missed his flight and came in Thursday night instead. This put a little stress on the situation since he was supposed to be in charge of the church. He was freaking out more than I was, so I am glad I was able to remain calm. We ended up getting him here late Thursday night.

Thursday:

I worked all day long. Made me extra tired since I didn't get ANY sleep the night before. Stephen and Justin helped me tie ribbons around the bubbles and programs. That was a huge help. Then I was off to pick up Noah, drop off gift bags at the hotels for our guests, and off to bed.

Friday:

Massages were in order first thing in the morning. After that, Noah and I went to the church to plan out the decorations. Noah had some AWESOME ideas! When guests first walked in, we had two round tables, one tall and one short, with the guest book, programs, etc. Then they saw a HUGE "G" on the floor in cursive in black marbles. It was so cool! And I am not sure where I got the idea for it, but it turned out amazing. Hopefully someone got a picture of it! Next, as you can see, Noah had an awesome idea for an isle runner. Instead of the typical flowers (since we didn't have a flower girl) we used big round black rugs

and made a little runner of polka dots. Here you see dad walking me down the isle. Also, something that I loved about our wedding is that we didn't do girls and guys on separate sides. Loved that!

The night before the wedding:

The rehearsal ran rather smoothly. Considering all that happened. Stephen's mom's plane was a little late getting in. So she was about an hour late. As well as my mother (who is terrible at directions) got lost in Norman WITH NOAH. Who was supposed to be in charge of this whole thing. Luckily Mandi (my cousin) was there, who played the director all weekend. She was great at keeping everyone organized and on the same page. The rehearsal dinner was at Coach's in Norman. It was fun and relaxed and everyone had a great time. After the rehearsal dinner, Jessi, Kari, and Erica went with me to my house to pack my things for the next day. After that, the boys showed up and hung out. We four girls continued the tradition we started at Erica's wedding the year before and went to her place to spend the night together.

The BIG Day:

The wedding day was perfect. Weather was perfect. Hair and makeup was perfect. Flowers were less than perfect, but Noah fixed that. My bridal luncheon (given by my aunt and uncle Hadji and cousin Lauden) was AMAZING! Then we were off for hair and makeup. Stephen had to deal with Best Western... who took all the money out of our checking account because they said we didn't cancel our unused reservations in time. FALSE! So that was the ONLY thing that went wrong that day. Everyone kept telling me that things were bound to happen and not to get upset. But my day was perfect. And after Stephen figured out the hotel stuff, his was alright too. I will have to post another separate blog about the actual day... because there is so much to tell. And then another post about the honeymoon. So look forward to those!